When America Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, many technology companies peace of mind staff that they will help people who need to travel to another state to access abortion care. But at some companies, a key part of their workforce remains closed: contract workers.
Today, a group of 25 Democratic members of Congress led by Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Representative Cori Bush of Missouri sent Letters to the CEOs of Amazon, Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, and Grubhub to question that policy. They write that the exclusion of contract workers is detrimental to the lowest-income workers of the companies and require that contract workers be reclassified as employees, with employee benefits .
“Companies like Uber, Lyft, GrubHub, DoorDash and Amazon continue to misclassify workers as ‘independent contractors’ rather than employees, excluding them from access to rights and benefits,” Warren said. like the right to the abortion care they deserve. The letter says these workers are more likely to “come from communities most likely to be harmed by the Supreme Court’s decision”.
While some groups of tech workers, such as Alphabet worker Unionchallenged their employers on fair abortion coverage, the first significant pressure on tech companies from Congress on the issue.
When asked about the letter, DoorDash spokesman Campbell Millum said the company believes every worker deserves to be selected as an employee or independent contractor and the company has advocated for access to benefits. Mobile for independent contractors. Uber spokesman Ryan Thornton also spoke of the “unique flexibility” that contract workers have, including the ability to work for competing platforms.
Lyft cited a blog post from its president of business, Kristin Sverchek, says the company has donated $1 million to Planned Parenthood and will continue to protect motorists from any laws that punish them for supporting abortions . Amazon spokesman Brad Glasser declined to comment on the letter; Grubhub did not comment.
WHEN WIRED request companies about their policies after Roe v. Wade Amazon, DoorDash and Lyft acknowledge that their abortion travel benefits do not apply to their drivers, but at Amazon a mix of contract workers and employees of small third-party contractors. Uber did not respond. The letter sent out today by members of Congress asks companies to respond by October 22.
Giga workers are often paid much less than those employed by the same company, receive fewer benefits, and face future earnings uncertainty. Meanwhile, the majority of people seeking abortion are low-income, in large part due to limited access to contraception and family planning education.
Most recent data from Guttmacher Viện Institute, a nonprofit that researches abortion, found that three-quarters of abortion patients live near or below the federal poverty line, while only 31% have private health insurance. Another 35 percent participate in Medicaid, which excludes most abortion coverage in 34 states.
The letter sent by lawmakers indicates that about two-thirds of Uber and Lyft drivers are people of color who face obstacle for abortion care. The challenges are particularly great for blacks and Indigenous peoples. The authors argue that contract workers lack the “business control” that defines an independent contractor, such as the ability to set their own rates, a position favored by gig advocates long agreed.
